Choosing the best strata manager for your property means looking beyond fees to governance capability, compliance expertise, communication style and long-term asset planning. The right partner helps a Body Corporate Manager move from reactive firefighting to strategic stewardship of buildings, levies and stakeholder relationships.
Table of Contents
Introduction – Why Choosing a New Strata Manager Matters
For any Body Corporate Manager responsible for medium to large multi-unit dwellings, strata management is not a nice-to-have; it is the operating system that underpins everything from levy setting and long-term maintenance to fire compliance and dispute resolution. A good strata or body corporate manager can transform ageing, complex buildings into resilient, well-governed communities; a poor one can multiply risk, owner frustration and unplanned costs.
In New Zealand, strata schemes are governed by the Unit Titles Act 2010 and its recent amendments, which introduce clearer requirements for management agreements and codes of conduct for body corporate managers. That makes the decision of how to choose the best strata manager for your property both a compliance issue and a strategic one.
Read more: What is Strata Management and How Does It Work?
What a Strata Manager Actually Does
Strata management and body corporate management refer to the same core function in New Zealand – administering common property, finances and governance on behalf of all unit owners in a unit title scheme. Under the Unit Titles framework, the body corporate can contract a professional manager to carry out many of its duties, including:
- Governance and administration – preparing agendas, calling and running AGMs and committee meetings, keeping minutes, maintaining the register of owners and managing correspondence.
- Financial management – preparing budgets, issuing and collecting levies, paying invoices, keeping accurate financial statements and arranging audits or reviews where required.
- Maintenance and long term planning – arranging day-to-day repairs, coordinating contractors and helping establish and maintain the long term maintenance plan and related funds.
- Compliance and risk management – supporting compliance with the Unit Titles Act and Regulations, health and safety duties, Building Warrant of Fitness obligations and insurance requirements.
- Owner and resident support – answering queries, explaining decisions, enforcing operational rules and helping resolve disputes between owners or residents.
Recent law changes reinforce that New Zealand body corporate managers must have written agreements that set out their functions, reporting requirements and obligations to comply with a prescribed code of conduct. That is the context in which a Body Corporate Manager is now selecting or re selecting a professional partner.
Key Factors to Consider When Choosing the Right Strata Manager
Selecting a strata manager is not just about who can send levy notices the cheapest; it is about who can support long-term capital growth, lifecycle planning and transparent governance across multiple properties. The following factors should sit at the top of any Body Corporate Manager’s shortlist checklist.
1. Proven experience in NZ multi-unit governance
Look for managers who can demonstrate a strong track record with buildings similar to yours in size, age and complexity, and who understand the Unit Titles Act, recent amendments and related regulations. Membership of Strata Community Association NZ and evidence of ongoing professional development are useful indicators of sector engagement.
2. Compliance and regulatory capability
The 2022 Unit Titles amendments define body corporate managers as providers of administrative, financial and regulatory compliance services, with a requirement to follow a new statutory code of conduct. Ask how the firm monitors legislative change, manages conflict of interest registers and documents compliance processes for BWOF, health and safety and insurance.
3. Long-term maintenance and asset planning skills
For a Body Corporate Manager under pressure to “do more with less”, support for long-term planning is critical; the Act requires a long-term maintenance plan, and many committees now expect 10 to 30-year views. Choose a manager who can integrate condition assessments, lifecycle costing and capital works planning into their service, not just coordinate trades as issues arise.
4. Communication and reporting quality
Committee-ready reporting is a major decision factor for busy managers. Assess sample reports for clarity, frequency and usefulness, including dashboards, risk registers and capex forecasts that can be understood quickly and presented at AGMs without translation.
5. Transparency of fees and conflicts
Strata Community Association’s code of conduct emphasises acting with integrity, disclosing commissions and not charging undisclosed rewards for services. Favour managers who provide clear fee schedules, disclose any supplier relationships and explain how they manage procurement to balance cost, quality and risk.
6. Scalability and technology
A Body Corporate Manager often oversees several schemes and needs systems that streamline work across them. Evaluate client portals, document access, workflow tools and integration with facilities or asset management platforms – and check how the firm handles data security and privacy.
Read more: How to Switch Strata Body Corporate Managers the Right Way: Expert Advice from Hallmark & Stone
What Questions Should We Ask a Potential Strata Manager
Once a shortlist is in place, structured questioning is the best way to see how each firm really operates beyond their marketing. For a Body Corporate Manager juggling owners, residents and professional advisers, the following questions help separate competent administrators from strategic partners.
Suggested questions at the interview
- Experience and portfolio
- Which buildings in Wellington or similar markets do you manage that are comparable in size, age and complexity to ours?
- What is the average tenure of your body corporate clients, and why do they stay?
- Governance and compliance
- How do you ensure ongoing compliance with the Unit Titles Act and Regulations, including the new code of conduct?
- Can you outline your process for preparing for and running AGMs and committee meetings, and for keeping resolutions and delegations documented?
- Financial management
- How do you prepare budgets and levies; what assumptions do you use around maintenance and risk?
- What controls do you have around trust accounts, dual authorisations and audits?
- Long-term maintenance and asset planning
- How do you support the development and review of the long-term maintenance plan and associated funds?
- Can you provide sample multi-year plans and show how they link to levies and capital projects?
- Service levels and communication
- What are your standard response times for owner and committee queries, and how are service levels monitored?
- Who will be our day-to-day contact, and how many schemes does that manager look after?
- Fees, commissions and conflicts
- Which services are included in your base fee and which attract additional charges?
- How do you handle commissions or volume rebates from preferred contractors, and how are these disclosed to clients?
- Onboarding and transition
- What does a typical transition from another manager look like, and how do you ensure records and financials are accurately transferred?
- How will you support us in explaining the change and your role to owners and residents?
Documenting responses and comparing them against the body corporate’s objectives and pain points makes the selection process more transparent and defensible.
Read more: What Does a Strata Body Corporate Manager Actually Do?
Conclusion
Choosing the best strata manager for your property is one of the most consequential decisions a Body Corporate Manager and committee will make; it shapes governance quality, compliance outcomes, maintenance performance and owner satisfaction for years. The strongest partners bring deep Unit Titles expertise, disciplined financial and compliance systems and a proactive approach to long term maintenance and lifecycle planning, not just administrative capacity.
By assessing hard evidence of performance and asking structured questions about governance, reporting, conflicts and transition, bodies corporate can appoint a strata management provider who helps them move from reactive problem solving to strategic, resilient building stewardship.
If you are looking at a new Body Corporate and Strata Management company, talk to Hallmark & Stone today and find out how we can help.
Frequently asked questions
Can we meet with multiple candidates before choosing?
Yes. Strata Community Association guidance and common practice in New Zealand support bodies corporate inviting and interviewing multiple strata or body corporate managers before appointment. Shortlisting two or three candidates for presentations to the committee or at a general meeting helps owners compare service models, reporting quality and cultural fit.
What should be in the management agreement?
The Unit Titles Act amendments require that a body corporate manager’s written agreement sets out their administrative, financial and regulatory compliance functions, reporting requirements, meeting roles and an obligation to comply with a prescribed code of conduct. Agreements should also clearly outline terms, termination rights, fee structures, conflict disclosure obligations and how performance will be reviewed over time.
How do we officially appoint a new strata manager?
In New Zealand, the body corporate as a whole appoints a manager by resolution, typically at an AGM or an extraordinary general meeting convened for that purpose. The committee recommends a preferred candidate, the owners vote to approve the appointment, and the chair or authorised signatory then executes the management agreement on behalf of the body corporate, after which the new manager takes over under an agreed transition plan.
